A new research frontier in astronomy and astrophysics will open in the mid-2020s with the advent of ground-based extremely large optical-infrared telescopes (ELTs) with primary mirrors in the 20-m – 40-m range. U.S. scientific leadership in astronomy and astrophysics will be significantly enhanced if the broad U.S. community can take advantage...
In an earlier companion post (Sharper Focus, Part 1), I introduced the concept of adaptive optics and talked about some of the ways astronomers and engineers have used those techniques to sharpen the images we capture. Now I’d like to show you some of the specific adaptive optics solutions that will enhance TMT’s vision.
Members of the TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC) met in Pasadena on April 9&10, 2018 for their quarterly gathering. SAC representatives reported on their respective activities for the TMT project and discussed top-level requirements for TMT’s suite of science instruments.
The TMT International Observatory (TIO) Board of Governors at its meeting this week deferred a decision on whether to continue towards building the Thirty Meter Telescope in Hawaii, or to consider the alternative in the Canary Islands.
The Atmospheric Lens TMT’s unprecedented ability to peer into the depths of the Universe means it will have a phenomenal impact on many areas of astronomy. But in this age of space-based telescopes, you may have wondered how a ground-based observatory like TMT (or some of the other next-generation large terrestrial telescopes) will get past the challenges of being on the ground instead of up in orbit. One of the major challenges is...
Pasadena, March 16, 2018 - The conceptual design and scope of TMT’s Refrigerant Cooling System (REFR), which was executed and developed by a close Chinese-North American collaboration, successfully passed a recent conceptual design review. This system will be used to provide cooling to electronics enclosures mounted on the telescope structure. The system also maintains several TMT instrument enclosures at subzero temperatures to reduce thermal...
Pasadena, CA - March 8, 2018 - Future users of the Thirty Meter Telescope are now preparing studies of the science instruments that will be deployed after the telescope's first-light instrumentation suite.
Until recently, eyeglass lenses were actually made of glass-remember the "Coke-bottle-bottoms" some people had to wear? Given the fragility and other quirky qualities of glass, you can imagine the delicacy with which the optician had to grind every lens blank to achieve exactly the right specifications. Now picture 492 glass pieces - actually, mirror segments once they have the reflective coating added -each weighing as much as a dozen car...
The year started at full speed for the TMT Observatory Software (OSW) team, who met in Pune, India with their colleagues from the India TMT Coordination Center (ITCC) and ThoughtWorks engineers to conduct their 3rd Common Software (CSW) sub-system inception meeting.
“Wax on, wax off,” said Mr. Miyagi to "The Karate Kid" (1984), to help the kid develop efficiency of movement, attention to detail, and grace—while also polishing Mr. Miyagi’s classic car. What could this possibly have to do with TMT?
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